Control architectures for industrial additive manufacturing systems

As the emergent technologies of Industrial Additive Manufacturing become increasingly employed in commercial manufacturing environments, challenges arise in terms of how resources of the manufacturing system should be marshalled and controlled for sustainable manufacturing. While control architectures are well established for conventional manufacturing, to-date there has been little explicit consideration for Industrial Additive Manufacturing. This article provides redress for this research gap by exploring four feasible control architectures employed in current manufacturing practice. Drawing upon 12 case studies and the operations of three companies, the relative merits, demerits, and challenges for each architecture are explored in terms of changeability criteria for sustainable manufacturing

Control architectures for Industrial Additive Manufacturing Systems

Industrial Additive Manufacturing technologies are increasingly being employed in manufacturing environments, yet there has been little consideration of these in terms of manufacturing systems. This paper explores the important concept of control for Industrial Additive Manufacturing Systems, drawing upon data achieved in twelve case studies to identify four feasible control architectures. Using an abductive approach, this paper contributes to a recognized knowledge gap in operations and manufacturing management research

Energy and cost assessment of 3D printed mobile case covers

Sustainable manufacturing emphasizes efficient production,whilst upholding economic, environmental, and societal commitments. One major challenge for sustainability arises in short lifecycle products such as mobile phone covers. The market demands quick product launch and responsive fulfilment, which is typically achieved through make-to-stock production using injection moulding. This approach necessitates production is based on demand forecasts, which frequently leads to overproduction and much unsold waste product. 3D printing technologies enable a make-to-order production model, allowing customers to self-manufacture mass customized products as needed. Moreover, in the framework of circular economy, 3D printing empowers the final user with full control of the end-of-life product disposal management. These capabilities suggest 3D printing may afford improved sustainability, but to-date there has been little empirical validation of this proposition. This paper addresses this gap through a comparison of 3D printed and injection moulded production, providing a detailed quantitative evaluation of energy and costs for both manufacturing approaches

Control architectures for Industrial Additive Manufacturing Systems

Industrial Additive Manufacturing technologies are increasingly being employed in manufacturing environments, yet there has been little consideration of these in terms of manufacturing systems. This paper explores the important concept of control for Industrial Additive Manufacturing Systems, drawing upon data achieved in twelve case studies to identify four feasible control architectures. Using an abductive approach, this paper contributes to a recognized knowledge gap in operations and manufacturing management research

The flexibility of industrial additive manufacturing systems

The overall aim of this study is to explore the nature of Industrial Additive Manufacturing Systems as implemented by commercial practitioners, with a specific focus on flexibility within the system and wider supply chain. This study is conducted from an Operations Management perspective to identify management implications arising from the application of contemporary Industrial Additive Manufacturing in the fulfilment of demand. The generation of the theoretical constructs and their evaluation is achieved through an abductive approach. The concept of an Industrial Additive Manufacturing System is developed, through which activities, enabling mechanisms, and control architectures are demonstrated. This is complimented by the proposal of a typology of flexibilities both for the manufacturing system and its supply chain. Twelve case studies are examined through practitioner interviews, observation, and mapping of the production processes at three Industrial Additive Manufacturing companies. These explorations are complimented by interviews with customers downstream of the Additive Manufacturer, and with interviews and a survey of principal upstream machine and material suppliers. This study identifies and classifies types of flexibility relevant to Industrial Additive Manufacturing Systems. It is shown that to achieve requisite flexibilities, it is necessary to manage the whole manufacturing system, not just individual machines. By extension, the internal manufacturing systems’ ability to achieve flexibility is shown to be both facilitated and constrained by the environment in which it operates. In particular, inadequacies in the supply of materials are shown to result in suboptimal practices within the manufacturing system. The principal contribution of this thesis is therefore the development of Industrial Additive Manufacturing from a manufacturing systems perspective, and an evaluation of its implications for flexibilit

Strategic opportunities for product-agnostic remanufacturing

Purpose There is now much emphasis in both research and practice on the principles of circular economies. In this paper remanufacturing is examined as a key enabler of circular practices, and the concept of “Product-Agnostic Manufacturing” (PAR) is proposed. This work differentiates PAR from many traditional approaches to remanufacturing by virtue of PAR's treatment of product variety. Most existing approaches to remanufacturing feature low variety and standardisation; this study instead suggests that the exploitation of flexibilities in both operations and supply chains leads to new competitive strategies for firms to exploit. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual study that builds on a thorough exploration of contemporary remanufacturing literature in the development of the new PAR concept. Findings Through a detailed literature review it is shown that there are a range of benefits, challenges, and critical success factors that underpin the remanufacturing concept. Building on this understanding and bridging literature in operations flexibility and supply chain design, a detailed discussion on the nature of PAR is provided, and an agenda for future research developed. Originality/value Whilst there has been much literature on remanufacturing, there is a general tendency to treat supply chain and remanufacturing operations quite distinctly in individual articles. Additionally, there has been little consideration of multi-product remanufacturing, and for the limited studies where this is done, the emphasis is typically on problem avoidance. This study aims to provide a detailed insight into the developed PAR concept, showing how the remanufacture of a wide range of product varieties may be achieved through flexible operations and supply chain design